3. “SUSTAINABILITY IN THE NORTHWOODS: REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS” – Brandon Boys, Former President of Ashland, Wisconsin City Council and Vice-President of the Chequamegon Bay Alliance for Sustainability; Currently a graduate student in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois.

In 2005, two small cities in northern Wisconsin passed resolutions designating themselves eco-municipalities. Inspired by the Swedish eco-municipality movement, these resolutions triggered a groundswell of community support leading to the creation of a regional sustainability plan and a variety of experiments in sustainable community development. To date, twenty-eight Wisconsin cities, counties and townships including the City of Madison have passed their own eco-municipality resolutions. Mr. Boys will share reflections and lessons learned from this experience and will discuss how this can help our local sustainability efforts.